Chapter 44 - Catting Around

BELLA

When we got back to the house, Alice seemed to be freaking out more than usual. A mess of vampire hissing erupted around me. One would have thought I was in a snake pit. I finally grabbed their attention by waving my hand at Edward. It wasn't so much Edward's attention that was caught as it was Alice's.

"You did it!" she squealed. "Oh, I'm so proud of you, Edward. I was going to try and see for myself if you would, but I got distracted with the Volturi mess." She grabbed my hand, yanking me into her arms. "After this is all over, we're planning a huge wedding! I can't wait!"

She disappeared, and I turned to Edward. "What just happened?"

"I think you just got yourself a wedding planner," he said, rubbing his chin.

"Okay, I got that part, but what's going on with the Volturi?" I asked. We had faced them before and made it out okay, but that didn't mean I wanted to do it again.

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Edward?"

"They want a cat."

"What?"

"They want a cat. Well, more specifically, Aro's wife would like a cat and thought maybe Marcus should have one as well."

"Are you serious?"

"As the plague."

"So what, they're coming to get Mittens?" I said defensively. No one was taking my cat!

"No, they're coming to stay with us for a while, so they can learn how to handle the cats."

"You're serious about this."

"Yes, I don't know how this happened. Demetri was sure I was insane, but apparently, Aro didn't see it that way. He wants a cat for his wife and thought it might cheer up Marcus."

"Cheer up Marcus?"

"Yes, he lost his mate and has been sad ever since, so when Aro saw me and Mittens interact through Demetri, he thought having a cat might do him good."

"You're really serious about this?"

He let out a huff and nodded yes.

"Well, where are you going to get the cats?" I asked.

"I don't know, Alice said something about rounding up some strays, but that's easier said than done." I remembered him attempting to catch Mittens, and I knew this would be a project I would have to undertake myself. We would need some very even-tempered cats, if we were going to introduce them to vampires.

I went to the kitchen and was pulling out some cans of tuna, when Alice came in with a large pillow case. "It's for the cats," she informed me.

I just shook my head. "Are you sure we can't just get them from the pound?" I asked.

She looked at me confused. "I don't think they want dead cats, why would we get pounded ones?"

"No, animal control cats, they'd have some we could adopt."

"Oh, is that where people get cats?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, some of them, it's a good place to start."

"Could they have kittens?" she asked.

"Um, no. They fix them, so they can't reproduce."

"Oh, well, I can see they'll want kittens."

I let out a sigh. "Why don't we check the paper?"

"What?"

"The newspaper, a lot of times, they'll have free kitten ads in them."

"Oh, brilliant!" Alice said excitedly and ran off.

Edward came in, taking my hand. "Need a snack?" he asked, looking at the can of tuna in my hand.

"No, just…never mind," I said, putting it down and started back to my room. "So, what are you guys going to do with the Denali's and the kids?"

"Vacation. Well, Tanya and Kate will be taking the kids to Disneyworld, but Esme will be taking Irina and Alistair to a house we have in Alaska to hide out. I've asked Esme to take you with her."

"Not going to happen," I answered plainly.

"What?"

"Look, Edward, these cats are going to freak out, and the Volturi will think something's up. I'm going to stay here and play cat expert and help them get settled in their new home."

"Cat expert?" he asked skeptically.

"Have you ever heard of the dog whisperer?" I asked in a duh voice.

Thankfully, Emmett backed me up. "Dude, he rocks, can we get a dog, too?"

I heard someone yell, "No!" and I giggled to myself.

"So, I'm the cat whisperer, and I'll be staying with you, until your cat friends are settled."

"FOUND SOME!" Alice called excitedly. "Come on, Bella, let's go get them!"

I waved to Edward, leaving him a little stunned. Once in the car, Alice turned to me. "Just so you know, he'll fight you every step of the way. He doesn't want you anywhere near the Volturi."

"I know, and I don't want to be near them, either, but I don't think this cat story is going to go down without some help."

"I know," she said, tapping her head.

We pulled up to a little house with a woman holding a box, sitting on the steps. "Hi, are you Alice?" she asked.

"She's Alice," I said, pointing to where she was waiting in the car. "I'm her roommate and wanted to see the cats before we got them."

The woman frowned but opened the box. I saw four very cute, but very overweight long-haired kittens, probably a Persian mix of some sort, that looked to be well under a year old. "They're really mild-tempered and very friendly," the woman said, trying to get me to take them. It worked.

I smiled up at her. "They're going to be great. Thank you," I said sincerely and closed the box up. The woman sighed in relief. I had to laugh a little to myself. I was sure these cats were eating her out of house and home, judging by the size of them. I had never seen such fat, pudgy kittens. The box was heavier than I thought, but I managed to get it to the car without dropping it. The hissing started as soon as I sat down. I was sure they could sense Alice was nearby. She ignored the hissing and put her hand in the box, petting the angry cats.

This was going to take a lot more work than I thought.